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 July, 1913 '.. '::..."..: EDITORIAL NOTS aND NEWS  THE CONDOIK A lagazlne of Western Ornithology' Published BiMonthly by the Cooper Ornitholofflcl Club J. GRINNELL. Editor. Borkeley. Cu, liforni& HARRY S. SWARTH. As8ociu, te Editor J. EVGENE LAW } Business Mu, n&f[ers W. LEE CHAMBEKS  Hollywood, California: Published Aufust 1913 SUBSCIklPTION RATES One Dollsr end Fifty Cents per Yeer in the United States, Canada, Mexico and U.S. Colonies, payable in advance Thirty Cents the single copy. One Dollsr end Seventy-five Cents Per Ye&r in all other countries in the Znternational Postal Union. Cl&ims for missing or imperfect numbers should be made within thirty days of date of issue. Subscriptions and Exch&nges should be sent" to the Business Manager. Mu, nusrlpts for public&itoh. and Books and P&pers for revlbw, should be sent to the Editor. Advertising R&tes on application. EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS] The Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art has recently received from Mr. G. Allan Haftcock, owner of the La Brea Ranch, the exclusive right, for the next two years, to exploit the exceedingly valuable and interesting deposits of fossils found upon that estate. CONNOR readers will recall the various publications of Dr. Loye Holmes Miller deM- ing with the birds discovered in these tar beds in the excavations of the University of California. In the new work now under way, begun early in July, a fair proportion of bird remains has been found among the more abundant large mammals, though so far of no species not already recorded by Miller. Mr. G. Willett, under the auspices of the Biological Survey, spent two weeks during June in the vicinity of Roosevelt, Arizona, studying conditions on the bird reservation at that point. After a brief stay in Los An- geles he then departed for Puget Sound on a similar mission. From there he goes north to inspect certain of the Federal bird reser- vations in Alaska. A letter was recently received from Josepit Dixon, who is a member of an expedition to Alaska in the interests of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. It is dat- ed at Dutch Harbor, April 24, and contains much of interest, especially as bearing upon the conditions under which zoological col- lecting is carried on in that region. "We are too early for stuff on this side, and have had beastly weather all the time, either blowing fifty to seventy miles outside, or snowing so that we couldn't feel our way when we got close inshore. . . We have quite a series of song sparrows, rosy finches, and snowflakes, and about fifteen ptarmigan. Willow Ptarmigan were still in the winter plumage at Glacier Bay and very wild, so that we did not get any. Rock Ptarmigan . were-very plentiful (I saw about 200 in /aal an hour) iust back of Muir's old cabin at Glacier Bay . . . I saw more ptarmigan in two minutes than I saw in the other two trips to Alaska. We could not get within ten miles of this place in 1907. There was scarcely any ice in the bay at all this time. " From a collector's standpoint we will be 'r;sticted in several ways. Our stops will be uncertain as to length on account of wind and weather, and we will not know if we can set traps or not,. . . but on the whole we are getting our share of stuff, and al- though cramped on board the boat, we have more than our share of space. " The official photographer has the worst' tiue. His films rub when developing, and plates freeze solid in the pan when he washes them on deck. He has some good films now, taken with' the moving picture camera. " We expect to leave here for Bogos- Iof'Isiard tomorrow. We had a fine view o! a smoking x;olcano on Unimak Island as we came by yesterday .... We are planning to fix up a drying screen in the galley, as our chests are full." The fact disclosed in the last sentence is evidence of results, however unfavorable the conditions ! As we go to press the sad news reaches us of the death of Henry B.-Kaeding, one of our oldest members. Mr. Kaeding passed away in Los Angeles early in June. A more extended. notice will appear in an early issue. PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 'THE Pa'ACT]CAL VALUE OF B]m)s. By Junius Henderson (University of Colorado Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 4, 1913, pp. 1-48). Most of us are apt to discount a publication which contains no original work beyond that of compilation. Yet the attractive paper at hand entitled "The practical value of birds" by Junius Henderson, Professor of Natural History and Curator of the Museum in the University of Colorado, presents so many ad- mirable features that all such criticism is fore- stalled. After the continued use of the word "eco- nomic" in publications of this kind the word "practical" found in the title is an acceptable